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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: roll · clip · rest · staff · squash · drill · land · current

  1. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. roll — a cake
  4. rest — what's left
  5. roll — a list
  6. current — of water
  7. current — happening now
  8. land — ground
  9. clip — a video
  10. drill — a practice
  11. land — to come down
  12. drill — the tool
  13. squash — the sport
  14. clip — to cut
  15. drill — army training
  16. clip — for paper
  17. staff — employees
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. land — a country
  20. current — electric
  21. staff — a stick
  22. squash — to crush
  23. rest — a break
  24. rest — what's left

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com